JP2010502133A - Method and apparatus for supporting positioning of a roaming mobile station - Google Patents

Abstract

A technique for supporting positioning of roaming mobile stations is described. A roaming mobile station communicates with the visited network and has a data connection to the home network. The mobile station sends a request for positioning assistance to a home location determination entity (II-PDE) in the home network. The II-PDE determines that base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available and sends a request for location information about the mobile station to the designated network entity. This entity may be a BSA that stores BSA data for different networks, or it may be a visited PDE (V-PDE) in the visited network. The H-PDE receives location information (eg, BSA data, assistance data, and / or location estimate for the mobile station) from a designated network entity, and based on the received location information, positioning assistance To the mobile station.

Description

Cross-reference of related applications

  This application is filed Aug. 24, 2006, assigned to the assignee here and incorporated herein by reference, “Easily Location-Based Service Roaming Through Sharing of Base Station Almanac Data. U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/840274 entitled "Method and Apparatus to Facilitate Location Based Services Roaming Through Sharing of Base Station Almanac Data" and assigned to the assignee herein. US provisional application entitled “CDMA Use Plane Location Based Services (LBS) Roaming” filed on Nov. 17, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference. Claims priority of 60/866410.

background

[I. Field]
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for supporting positioning of a mobile station.

[II. background]
It is often desirable and sometimes necessary to know the location of a mobile station such as a mobile phone. Here, the terms “location” and “position” are synonymous and are used interchangeably. For example, a user may browse a website using a mobile station and click on location sensitive content that depends on location. The location of the mobile station is then determined and used to provide the appropriate content to the user. There are many others where knowledge of the location of the mobile station is useful or necessary.

  A mobile station may be able to obtain location services from a home network and while roaming in a visited network. . A mobile station may communicate with various network entities in the home network to determine the location of the mobile station whenever necessary. At this time, one of the main problems is to provide location services to the mobile station when roaming.

  Techniques for supporting positioning and location services for roaming mobile stations are described herein. A roaming mobile station can communicate with the visited network and have a data connection to the home network. The mobile station can interact with a home position determining entity (H-PDE) in the home network for positioning. The mobile station can send a first request for positioning assistance to the H-PDE. The first request may include system parameter information indicating a serving sector for a mobile station in the visited network. The H-PDE can determine that base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network. The H-PDE can then send a second request for location information about the mobile station to the designated network entity and receive the location information from the designated network entity. can do. The received position information may comprise BSA data for the mobile station, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data, and / or position estimate. The H-PDE can then provide positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received location information.

  The designated network entity may be a BSA server that stores BSA data for multiple networks including visited networks. The BSA server can receive the second request from the H-PDE and can return BSA data for the serving sector only, or for the serving sector and neighboring sectors. Alternatively, the designated network entity may be a visited PDE (V-PDE) in the visited network. The V-PDE may receive the second request from the H-PDE and return BSA data, SPS assistance data, and / or position estimates for the mobile station.

  Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described in further detail below.

The figure which shows the visited network and home network about the mobile station in roaming. The figure which shows the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using a BSA server. The figure which shows the message flow for the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using a BSA server. The figure which shows the message flow for the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using a BSA server. The figure which shows the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using V-PDE. The figure which shows the message flow for the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using V-PDE. The figure which shows the message flow for the positioning of the mobile station in roaming using V-PDE. FIG. 6 shows a message flow for positioning of a roaming mobile station with IS-801 message transfer. The figure which shows the process performed by H-PDE. The figure which shows the process performed by a BSA server. The figure which shows the process performed by V-PDE. The figure which shows the process performed by the mobile station for positioning. A block diagram of a mobile station and other network entities.

Detailed description

  The techniques described here are: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) It may be used for various wireless networks, such as networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFthogonal FDMA) (OFDMA) networks, etc. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as cdma2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA). cdma2000 meets IS-2000, IS-856, and IS-95 standards. A TDMA network may implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS). W-CDMA and GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The 3GPP and 3GPP2 literature is publicly available. For clarity, the techniques are described below for a 3GPP2 network.

  FIG. 1 shows an arrangement with visited network 102, home network 104, third party network 106, and requesting network 108. The terms “visited” and “serving” are often used interchangeably. The home network 104 is a wireless network to which a mobile station (MS) 110 is subscribed. The visited network 102 is a wireless network that currently provides services to the mobile station 110. The visited network 102 and the home network 104 may be different networks when the mobile station 110 is roaming outside the range of the home network. Networks 102 and 104 may support location services (LCS), which may include any services that are based on or related to location information. LCS may also be referred to as location-based services (LBS).

  A mobile station 110 may be stationary or mobile and may also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, etc. The mobile station 110 may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless device, a handset, a laptop computer, a telemetry device, a tracking device, or the like. The mobile station 110 can communicate with a radio access network (RAN) 120 in the visited network 102 to obtain communication services such as voice, video, packet data, broadcast and messaging. . The mobile station 110 may also receive signals from one or more satellites 190, such as the US Global Positioning System (GPS), the European Galileo system, Russia. GLONASS system, or any other satellite positioning system (SPS). Mobile station 110 may measure signals from satellite 190 and / or signals from base stations in RAN 120 and may obtain pseudorange measurements for satellites and / or timing measurements for base stations. . Pseudo-range measurements and / or timing measurements are assisted GPS (A-GPS), stand-alone GPS, Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (A-FLT), extended observation time difference ( About mobile station 110 using one or a combination of positioning methods such as Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Extended Cell ID, Cell ID, etc. May be used to derive a position estimate of.

  Application (APP) 112 may support location services and / or positioning for mobile station 110 and may comprise LCS clients and / or higher layer applications. The LCS client is a function of an entity that requests location information about an LCS target (LGS target). An LCS target is a mobile station whose location is being searched. In general, the LCS client may reside within a network entity or mobile station, or may be external to both.

  In the visited network 102, the RAN 120 supports wireless communication for mobile stations that are within range of the RAN. The RAN 120 may include base stations, base station controllers (BSCs), and / or other network entities that support wireless communication. A packet control function (PCF) 128 supports the exchange of packet data between the RAN 120 and a packet data serving node (PDSN) 130. PDSN 130 supports packet-switched calls to mobile stations and is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and terminating data sessions. The PDSN 130 may be a foreign agent (FA) that intervenes when the mobile station 110 exchanges packet data during roaming. An inter-working function (IWF) may be used in place of PDSN 130 in any wireless network, such as an IS-95 network.

  The visited LCS system 136 supports positioning and location services for the visited network 102 and includes a visited mobile positioning center (V-MPC) 138 and a visited location entity ( visited position determining entity) (V-PDE) 140 and BSA unit 142. The V-MPC 138 performs various functions for location services, such as subscriber privacy, authorization, authentication, roaming support, charging / billing ( Billing, service management, position calculation, etc. can be supported. The V-PDE 140 supports positioning for the mobile station. Positioning refers to a process for measuring / computing a geographic position estimate for a target device. A position estimate may also be referred to as a location estimate, a position fix, a fix, etc. The V-PDE 140 exchanges messages with mobile stations belonging to the visited network 102 for positioning, calculates position estimates, supports the distribution of assistance data to the mobile stations, and performs functions for security. Etc. can be performed. Unit 142 stores a BSA containing information about the sectors and base stations in visited network 102, which may be used to assist the mobile station's positioning. A sector can refer to a coverage area of a base station and / or base station subsystem that serves the coverage area.

  Visited authentication, authorization, and accounting (V-AAA) server 132 performs authentication and authorization for LCS and other servers. A visitor location register (VLR) 134 stores registration information for mobile stations registered in the visited network 102. Network entities in the visited network 102 may communicate with each other via the data network 148.

  In the home network 104, the PDSN 150 may be a home agent (HA) in which the mobile station 110 is registered, and is responsible for transferring packets to the mobile station 110. The home LCS system 156 supports positioning and location services for the home network 104, and includes a home MPC (H-MPC) 158, a home PDE (home PDE) (H-PDE) 160, and a BSA unit 162. Which may operate similarly to the corresponding network entity in the visited LCS system 136. A home AAA (H-AAA) server 152 and a home location register (HLR) 154 may operate similarly to corresponding network entities in the visited network 102. Network entities in the home network 104 serve mobile stations communicating with the home network and may communicate with each other via the data network 168.

  Third party network 106 includes a BSA server 170 that communicates with PDEs in other networks to support mobile station positioning, as described below. Unit 172 may store BSA from the network that wants to share BSA data. The requesting network 108 includes an LCS client 180 that wants to know the location of the mobile station 110. LCS client 180 may communicate with H-MPC 158 to obtain the location of mobile station 110. The requesting network 108 may be part of the visited network 102 or home network 104, or may be separate from these networks. For example, the requesting network 108 may be a data network maintained by an Internet service provider (ISP). Entities in the third party network 106 and the requesting network 108 may communicate with entities in the visited network 102 and home network 104 via the data network 178, which may be on the Internet or some other network. There may be.

  The Wide Area Reference Network (WARN) 192 monitors GPS satellites, and provides the H-PDE 160 with satellite reference information about service areas of the home network 104 and the visited network 102. May be provided. The satellite reference information may comprise a differential correction for GPS Ephemeris information and may be used in GPS and A-GPS location calculations.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a visited network 102 and a home network 104. In general, a network may include any combination of entities that supports any service provided by the network. Networks 102 and 104 may support a user plane location architecture. The user plane is a mechanism for carrying messages / signaling for higher layer applications and uses a user plane bearer. User plane bearers are typically implemented with protocols such as User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and Internet Protocol (IP). These protocols are all well known in the art. Location services and positioning supporting message / signaling may be carried as part of the data (from the network perspective) in the user plane architecture.

  Networks 102 and 104 are V.1 or V2 user plane from CDMA Development Group (CDG), X.2 from 3GPP2. Any user plane architecture may be implemented such as the S0024 user plane, Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) from the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). V1, V2, and X.V. S0024 is applicable to 3GPP2 networks. SUPL is applicable to 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks. These user plane architectures are described in the publicly available literature.

  In the description herein, the term “PDE” generally refers to an entity that supports positioning, the term “MPC” generally refers to an entity that supports location services, and the term “mobile station” In general, it refers to an entity that communicates with an MPC for location services and / or a PDE for positioning, and the term “LCS client” generally refers to an entity that requests the location of a mobile station. Point to. PDE can be PDE in V1 and V2 user plane, SUPL Positioning Center (SPC) in SUPL, Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC) in 3GPP or Standalone SMLC (Standalone SMLC) (SAS), etc. MPC includes MPC in V1 and V2 user planes, SUPL Location Center (SLC) in SUPL, X. It may be a Position Server (PS) in S0024, a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) in 3GPP, or the like. The mobile station may be a mobile station in the V1 and V2 user planes, a SUPL enabled terminal (SET) in SUPL, a UE in 3GPP, and so on. PDEs, MPCs, mobile stations, and LCS clients may be referred to by other names in other networks and other location architectures.

Networks 102 and 104 may support location services for roaming mobile stations based on a reliable and / or unreliable model. Table 1 provides a short description of the reliable and unreliable models.

  The network may maintain a BSA for sectors and / or base stations in the network. A BSA may include multiple records, and each BSA record may describe a sector or base station in the network. Each BSA may contain various types of information as it relates to positioning. For example, a BSA record may include information about a sector / base station identifier, base station antenna location, antenna parameters, terrain information, sector center, frequency, etc., as described in US Pat. No. 7,123,928. . BSA may be used to support network-based positioning methods such as A-FLT, E-OTD, OTDOA, Extended Cell ID, Cell ID. For example, the location of the base station may be used to triangulate the location of the mobile station using A-FLT, E-OTD, OTDOA methods. The center of the sector may be used as a rough location estimate for the mobile station for the extended cell ID and cell ID method. BSA may also be used to support satellite-based methods such as GPS, A-GPS. For example, information about the serving sector of mobile station 110 may be used to obtain a rough position estimate, and the rough position estimate provides appropriate GPS assistance data to the mobile station. May be used to

  The mobile station 110 may communicate with the visited network 102 and may receive a request for the location of the mobile station from, for example, an application residing on the mobile station, LCS client 180, or H-MPC 158. Even while roaming, the mobile station 110 may have a data connection to the home network 104 using a data roaming mechanism such as Mobile IP. It may be desirable to serve the roaming mobile station 110 from the home LCS system 156. Thereby, the home network 104 may be able to maintain control over security and authentication, user privacy, location estimate quality, system scaling, billing, and the like. In addition, this allows the mobile station 110 to use the home network 104 wherever it roams, regardless of the location and LCS capabilities of the visited network, as long as voice and data roaming are supported for the mobile station. It may be possible to obtain location services from

  In order to effectively serve the mobile station 110 during roaming, the home LCS system 156 may need to access BSA data from the visited network 102. Unit 162 in home LCS system 156 may store BSA data for only sectors and base stations in home network 104. A unit 142 in the visited LCS system 156 may store BSA data for sectors and base stations in the visited network 102. The home LCS system 156 needs access to the BSA data stored in the visited LCS system 136 to effectively serve the mobile station 110 when roaming in the visited network 102. There may be.

  In an aspect, the BSA server 170 supports sharing BSA data from different participating networks for positioning of mobile stations roaming in these networks. BSA server 170 may receive BSAs from different networks, such as visited network 102 and home network 104, and store these BSAs in unit 172. Each network may periodically provide the BSA to the BSA server 170 when the BSA is updated or when requested by the BSA server. The BSA server 170 may operate as a repository for BSAs from participating networks and may provide BSA data to these PDEs when required by authorized PDEs. If a given PDE does not have the necessary content in its local BSA to serve a roaming mobile station, the PDE queries the BSA server 170 for the desired BSA data. May be. The PDE may be able to effectively serve the mobile station (eg, derive a high quality location estimate) based on the BSA data provided by the BSA server 170.

  FIG. 2 shows a design to support positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using BSA server 170. The mobile station 110 may exchange data with the PDSN / HA 150 in the home network 104 via the RAN 120, the PCF 128, and the PDSN / FA 130 in the visited network 102 using a roaming mechanism such as mobile IP. A mobile IP tunnel may be established between PDSN / FA 130 and PDSN / HA 150 and may be used to exchange data for mobile station 110. A network entity in the visited network 102 may transparently transfer data for communication between the mobile station 110 and the home network 104. Mobile station 110 may communicate with entities in home LCS system 156 via PDSN / HA 150.

  The mobile station 110 may communicate with the H-MPC 158 for location services (eg, to request assistance data or location estimates) and provide system parameter information about the serving sector for the mobile station. May be. In IS-801, the system parameter information may comprise system identification (SID), network identification (NID), and base station identification (BASE_ID), All of these may be obtained from system parameter messages broadcast by the serving sector. The SID identifies the network operator's cellular system within a particular area, and the NID identifies the smaller network within the cellular system. BASE_ID may consist of CELL_ID and SECTOR_ID assigned to the serving sector. The SID and NID may be used to identify a network currently serving the mobile station 110 and determine whether the mobile station 110 is roaming. The SID, NID, and BASE_ID may be used to determine the sector currently serving the mobile station 110. In GSM, the system parameter information also includes a mobile country code (MCC), a mobile network code (MNC), and a location area code (LAC). Good. In W-CDMA, the system parameter information may comprise MCC, MNC, and Radio Network Controller identifier (RNC-ID). The system parameter information may include other items in other systems. The mobile station 110 may also provide other information such as positioning quality of service (PQoS) information, a desired number of position estimates.

  The H-MPC 158 may authorize the mobile station 110 for the requested location service and may select the H-PDE 160 to serve the mobile station for positioning. The H-MPC 158 may request the H-PDE 160 to accept a positioning session with the mobile station 110, and provide the H-PDE 160 with related information received from the mobile station 110. Also good.

  Thereafter, the mobile station 110 and the H-PDE 160 may perform a positioning session (eg, IS-801 session) to provide positioning support to the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may receive the SID, NID, and BASE_ID for the mobile station 110 from the H-MPC 158 and may determine that the mobile station 110 is currently roaming. H-PDE 160 may recognize that the desired BSA data is not available locally at unit 162 and may then request BSA server 170 to provide the desired BSA data. H-PDE 160 may communicate with BSA server 170 via a secure interface, which may be on the Internet using tunneling or other means. A secure interface may prevent BSA data from being read by anyone (including network operators) during transit. The BSA server 170 may respond to the request from the H-PDE 160 by returning BSA data for the serving sector of the mobile station 110. The BSA server 170 may also provide BSA data for neighboring sectors, which may be useful when the mobile station 110 is handed off to any of these neighboring sectors. The H-PDE 160 may use the BSA data received from the BSA server 170 to provide appropriate assistance data to the mobile station 110. Alternatively, the H-PDE 160 may use the BSA data to derive a position estimate for the mobile station 110 and provide the position estimate to the mobile station. The H-PDE 160 provides positioning support to the mobile station 110 based on the BSA data received from the BSA server 170 and the satellite reference information received from the WARN 192 for the area where the mobile station 110 is currently located. May be provided.

  FIG. 3 shows a design of a message flow 300 to support positioning of a roaming mobile station 110 using a BSA server 170. The mobile station 110 may send an IS-801 Position Determination Data Message to the H-PDE 160 (Step A). This message includes (i) an MS information providing element (Provide MS Information element) indicating the positioning capability of the mobile station 110, (ii) a system parameter information providing element (Provide) containing system parameter information such as SID, NID, and BASE_ID. (System Parameter Information element), (iii) Pilot Pilot Phase Measurement element, (iv) containing pilot timing and / or signal strength measurements made by the mobile station 110 for the detected sector A GPS ephemeris request element for requesting a GPS ephemeris (Request GPS Ephemeris element) and (v) a GPS almanac request element for requesting a GPS almanac may be included. The GPS almanac contains information about the coarse locations of all satellites in the GPS constellation. The GPS ephemeris includes a more accurate version of the GPS satellite orbit, as tracked and reported by ground tracking stations.

  The H-PDE 160 may receive a location determination data message from the mobile station 110 and may determine that the mobile station is roaming based on system parameter information. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may send a request message containing a location estimate request element (Request Location Estimate element) and an assistance data request element (Request Assistance Data element) to the BSA server 170 (step B). The location estimate request element includes a LOC_REC parameter containing different types of requested information (eg, altitude, GPS clock correction, speed, etc.), a SYSTEM_PARAM parameter containing system parameter information, and pilot information (pilot PN phase). PPM parameters containing pilot strength, etc.). The assistance data request element may include an ASST_TYPE parameter indicating the type of assistance data being requested, in this case BSA. Various messages, elements, and parameters are described in 3GPP2 C.I. The title “Position Determination Service Standard for Dual Mode Spread Spectrum Systems” in S0022, February 16, 2001, this document covers IS-801 And is publicly available.

  The BSA server 170 may receive a request message from the H-PDE 160, and may return a response message containing a location estimate providing element and a support data providing element (step C). The location estimate providing element may include a LOC_EST parameter that contains a rough location estimate. The assistance data providing element may include BSA parameters that contain BSA data for the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may cache the BSA data and determine an appropriate GPS ephemeris and GPS almanac for the mobile station 110 based on the BSA data (step D). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS ephemeris and GPS almanac to the mobile station 110 (step E).

  FIG. 4 shows a design of a message flow 400 to support positioning of a roaming mobile station 110 using a BSA server 170. The mobile station 110 sends an MS information element, a system parameter information element, a pilot phase measurement value providing element (Provide Pilot Phase Measurement element), and a GPS acquisition support request for requesting GPS acquisition support to the H-PDE 160. An IS-801 Position Determination Data Message containing an element (Request GPS Acquisition Assistance element) may be sent (step A). The H-PDE 160 may determine that the mobile station 110 is roaming and then send a request message containing a location estimate request element and an assistance data request element to the BSA server 170 (step B). . The assistance data providing element may include an ASST_TYPE parameter indicating that BSA data is requested. The BSA server 170 may return a response message containing the location estimate providing element and the assistance data providing element (step C). The assistance data providing element may include BSA parameters that contain BSA data for the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may cache the BSA data and determine appropriate GPS acquisition support data based on the BSA data (step D). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS acquisition support data to the mobile station 110 (step E).

  The mobile station 110 may send a request for GPS sensitivity support to the H-PDE 160 (step F). The H-PDE 160 may determine appropriate GPS sensitivity assistance data for the mobile station 110 based on the cached BSA data (step G). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS sensitivity support data to the mobile station 110 (step H).

  The mobile station 110 may also provide the H-PDE 160 with a pseudo-range measurement (PRM), a pilot phase measurement, a time offset measurement, and a request for a location response. Good (step I). The H-PDE 160 may derive a position estimate for the mobile station 110 based on the cached BSA data and the measured value from the mobile station 110 (step J). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may return a location response containing the position estimate (step K).

  3 and 4 show two example message flows to support positioning of a roaming mobile station 110. FIG. Other message flows may be used to support positioning. In general, the H-PDE 160 may be requested by the mobile station 110 to derive a position estimate, etc., to provide assistance data. H-PDE 160 may query BSA server 170 for this data if the associated BSA data is not available in the local BSA. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested assistance data, position estimation value, etc. to the mobile station 110.

  The H-PDE 160 may support mobile stations that are roaming and not roaming for the home network 104. The H-PDE 160 may receive a request for positioning assistance from the mobile station 110 and may determine whether the desired BSA data is available in the local BSA. The H-PDE 160 may make this determination based on system parameter information provided by the mobile station 110. In one design, the H-PDE 160 may maintain a table of SIDs that can request BSA data from the BSA server 170. For each request from the mobile station 110, the H-PDE 160 may compare the SID in the request with that in the table, and if the SID is not in the table, may query the BSA server 170 for BSA data. . The H-PDE 160 may wait for the requested BSA data to arrive from the BSA server 170 and may provide positioning support to the mobile station 110 based on the BSA data.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the H-PDE 160 caches the BSA data received from the BSA server 170 for a limited period of time so that the H-PDE 160 can use this BSA data later if necessary. Good. The H-PDE 160 may discard the cached BSA data after the limited period in order to avoid the use of old BSA data (stale BSA data). H-PDE 160 also allows any data in any operator-accessible log, which may allow important aspects of BSA in another network. It can also be obscure so that it will not be rebuilt. The H-PDE 160 also sends information about some or all of the position estimates to the BSA server 170, which monitors the BSA quality during roaming, BSA performance during roaming, self-learning (self- learn) You may be able to calculate and report BSA data etc. while roaming.

  The H-PDE 160 may receive BSA data from the BSA server 170 and determine appropriate assistance data for the mobile station 110, as shown in FIGS. Support data (eg, GPS ephemeris and GPS almanac) may depend on the current location of mobile station 110. H-PDE 160 may receive satellite reference information (eg, derivative corrections) from WARN 192 for the home network service area and all supported roaming areas. The H-PDE 160 may apply an appropriate differential correction for the assistance data according to the current position of the mobile station 110.

  In general, the BSA server 170 may serve any number of PDEs from any number of networks. BSA server 170 and PDEs may communicate using any suitable PDE-server interface, such as an IP-based protocol such as TCP / IP or a query-response interface such as an inter-PDE LBS roaming protocol. . The BSA server 170 may receive and store BSA data from PDEs of different network operators. These operators are described in US Pat. No. 7,123,928 issued October 17, 2006, “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Using a Base Station Almanac for A BSA file of any suitable BSA file format, such as BSA format type 2 described in “Position Determination” may be provided. The BSA server 170 may support web-based operator access portals, automatic secure FTP file transfer of BSA files, direct BSA queries on the PDE-server interface, and the like.

  The BSA server 170 may control sharing of BSA data between different participating networks. The BSA server 170 may be operated by an independent third party and may be instructed by the network operator how their BSA data should be shared. Sharing BSA data between different operators may depend on business contracts between these operators. For example, the BSA server 170 may receive BSAs of four networks A, B, C, and D. BSA server 170 allows network A to access only the BSAs of network C, allows network B to access the BSAs of networks C and D, and allows network C to access the BSAs of networks A, B, and D The network D may be able to access the BSAs of the networks B and C. In this way, the BSA server 170 may control which network can receive BSA data from which other networks.

  Also, sharing of BSA data between different networks may depend on a regulatory approach. For example, network A may access only the BSA of network C in normal operation, but may access the BSAs of all networks in an emergency call.

  The BSA server 170 may allow a given network to access all or only a portion of another network's BSA. In the above example, BSA server 170 may allow network B to receive BSA for only a limited portion of network C's service area and all service areas of network D.

  The BSA server 170 may also provide BSA content filtering. For example, the BSA server 170 may provide either unmodified full quality data or degraded BSA data in response to a request from the PDE. BSA data may be degraded, for example, by providing a more uncertain location relative to the center of the sector or base station. The BSA server 170 may provide BSA data only for the serving sector indicated in the PDE, or for the serving sector and neighboring sectors. If BSA data for a neighboring sector is provided, the BSA data may be degraded to reduce its quality or mask its content.

  In other aspects, the PDEs may communicate with each other to provide location information about roaming mobile stations. In general, the position information may be any information used for positioning of the mobile station, and may include BSA data, any type of support data, a position estimation value, and the like. In one design, the PDE may maintain a table of SIDs from which the PDE can request location information and an address of the PDEs for requesting location information. When the location request is received from the mobile station, the PDE compares the SID in the location request with that in the table, and if the SID is in the table, the PDE sends the location information about the mobile station to the appropriate PDE. May be requested.

  FIG. 5 shows a design that supports positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using V-PDE 140. The mobile station 110 may communicate with the H-PDE 160 in the home network 104 via the visited network 102 as described above for FIG. Mobile station 110 may communicate with H-MPC 158 for location services and may provide system parameter information (eg, SID, NID, and BASE_ID) for the serving sector. The H-MPC 158 permits the mobile station 110 for the requested location service, selects the H-PDE 160 for providing service to the mobile station, and accepts a positioning session for the mobile station 110 to the H-PDE 160. You may request that

  Thereafter, the mobile station 110 and the H-PDE 160 may perform a positioning session (for example, an IS-801 session) for positioning the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may receive the SID, NID, and BASE_ID for the mobile station 110 from the H-MPC 158 and may determine that the mobile station 110 is roaming. H-PDE 160 may recognize that the desired BSA data is not locally available and may determine that V-PDE 140 can provide location information for mobile station 110. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may query the V-PDE 140 to provide location information about the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may communicate with the V-PDE 140 via a secure interface to prevent location information from being blocked while passing. The V-PDE 140 may respond to the H-PDE 160 query by returning the requested location information for the mobile station 110.

  In one design, V-PDE 140 may provide BSA data for serving sectors and possibly neighboring sectors. If requested, the H-PDE 160 may determine appropriate assistance data for the mobile station 110 based on the received BSA data, and then provide the assistance data to the mobile station. If a position estimate is required, the H-PDE 160 may derive a position estimate for the mobile station 110 based on the BSA data received from the V-PDE 140, after which the position estimate is You may provide to a mobile station. In other designs, V-PDE 140 may receive measurements sent by mobile station 110 and forwarded by H-PDE 160 and may provide assistance data or position estimates for mobile station 110. . Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may transfer the assistance data or the position estimation value to the mobile station 110. In this design, the V-PDE 140 may avoid sending BSA data to the H-PDE 160, which may be desirable because the BSA data can be considered as unique information for the network operator.

  FIG. 6 shows a design of a message flow 600 to support positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using V-PDE 140. The mobile station 110 may send to the H-PDE 160 an IS-801 positioning data message containing various information elements including requests for GPS ephemeris and GPS almanac (step A). H-PDE 160 may determine that mobile station 110 is roaming and may then send a request message to V-PDE 140 (step B). The V-PDE 140 may return a response message including the location estimate providing element and the assistance data providing element (step C). The location estimate providing element may include a LOC_EST parameter that contains a rough location estimate. The assistance data providing element may include a GPS_EPHEMERIS parameter containing a GPS ephemeris and a GPS_ALMANAC parameter containing a GPS almanac. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS ephemeris and GPS almanac to the mobile station 110 (step D).

  FIG. 7 shows a design of a message flow 700 to support positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using V-PDE 140. The mobile station 110 may send an IS-801 positioning data message containing various information elements including a request for GPS acquisition assistance to the H-PDE 160 (step A). H-PDE 160 may determine that mobile station 110 is roaming and may then send a request message to V-PDE 140 (step B). The V-PDE 140 may return a response message including a location estimate providing element and a support assistance data element (Step C). The assistance data providing element may include a GPS_ACQ_DATA parameter containing GPS acquisition assistance data. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS acquisition support data to the mobile station 110 (step D).

  The mobile station 110 may transmit a request for GPS sensitivity support to the H-PDE 160 (step E). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may send a request message having a support data request element to the V-PDE 140 (step F). The V-PDE 140 may return a response message having a support data providing element, and the support data providing element may include a GPS-SENS_DATA parameter containing GPS sensitivity support data (step G). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may provide the requested GPS sensitivity support data to the mobile station 110 (step H).

  Mobile station 110 may provide pseudorange measurements, pilot phase measurements, time offset measurements, and a request for location response to H-PDE 160 (step I). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may send a request message having a location estimate request element containing information received from the mobile station to the V-PDE 140 (step J). The V-PDE 140 may derive a position estimate for the mobile station 110 and may return a response message having a location estimate providing element that contains the position estimate (step K). Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 may send a location response containing the position estimate to the mobile station 110 (step L).

  FIGS. 6 and 7 show two example message flows for supporting positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using V-PDE 140. Other message flows may be used to support positioning. In general, the H-PDE 160 may be requested by the mobile station 110 for arbitrary location information such as BSA data, assistance data, location estimates, and the like. H-PDE 160 may query V-PDE 140 if BSA data for mobile station 110 is not locally available. The V-PDE 140 may directly return the location information requested by the mobile station 110. Alternatively, the H-PDE 160 may process the information received from the V-PDE 140 to obtain the location information requested by the mobile station 110. In any case, the H-PDE 160 may return the requested location information to the mobile station 110.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, H-PDE 160 may communicate with V-PDE 140 for transaction-based services. Each set of requests sent by the H-PDE 160 and responses sent by the V-PDE 140 may be considered as one transaction. In general, a transaction may be for BSA data, specific types of assistance data, rough location estimates, accurate location estimates, and the like. V-PDE 140 may provide service independently for each request without having to maintain state information.

  In general, H-PDE 160 and V-PDE 140 may communicate using any suitable PDE-PDE interface, such as, for example, a query-response interface such as an inter-PDE LBS roaming protocol. The V-PDE 140 may implement the above functionality for the BSA server 170 to support queries from other PDEs. For example, the V-PDE 140 may control the sharing of the BSA data or support data with PDEs in other networks based on a business contract or a regulatory technique. V-PDE 140 may also provide BSA content filtering and may provide complete quality and / or degraded BSA data to requesting PDEs.

  In yet another aspect, the PDE may receive and store BSA data for other networks in addition to BSA data for its network. This also allows the PDE to completely handle positioning without communicating with other PDEs or BSA servers 170.

  In yet another design, positioning of the roaming mobile station 110 is supported by forwarding positioning messages (eg, IS-801 messages) from the H-PDE 160 to the V-PDE 140. Mobile station 110 may return to H-PDE 160 regardless of its current location, as described above. The H-PDE 160 may determine that the mobile station 110 is roaming based on, for example, the SID and NID provided by the mobile station 110. The H-PDE 160 may then forward the positioning message to an appropriate V-PDE that can serve the mobile station 110 for positioning.

  FIG. 8 shows a design of a message flow 800 to support positioning of roaming mobile station 110 using IS-801 message transfer. Initially, the mobile station 110 may perform a mobile IP data call setup to set up a data session with the PDSN / HA 150. This call setup may include performing Mobile IP negotiation and PPP negotiation with the PDSN / HA 150 in the home network 104 and the PDSN / FA 130 in the visited network 102. Thereafter, the mobile station 110 may exchange signaling with the H-PDE 160 for the positioning layer. This may include setting up a TCP / IP socket with H-PDE 160 and starting an IS-801 session with H-PDE.

  Thereafter, the mobile station 110 may exchange an IS-801 message with the H-PDE 160, and the H-PDE 160 indicates that the mobile station 110 is roaming based on the SID and NID provided by the mobile station. It may be detected. Thereafter, the H-PDE 160 transmits the IS-801 message exchanged between the mobile station 110 and the V-PDE 140, for example, a non-persistent TCP / IP in a secure connection between the H-PDE and the V-PDE. It may be transferred over a socket.

  FIG. 9 shows a design of a process 900 performed by the H-PDE to support mobile station positioning. The H-PDE may be any network entity that supports positioning for the home network. The H-PDE may receive a first request for positioning assistance from a mobile station in communication with the visited network (block 912). The H-PDE may determine that BSA data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network (block 914). The H-PDE may send a second request for location information about the mobile station to the designated network entity (block 916). The H-PDE may receive location information about the mobile station from the designated network entity (block 918). The received location information may comprise BSA data, SPS assistance data, and / or location estimates for the mobile station. The H-PDE may then provide positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received location information (block 920).

  The H-PDE may receive system parameter information in the first request from the mobile station. The system parameter information may include the SID and NID of the visited network. The H-PDE may determine that BSA data for the mobile station is not locally available based on the system parameter information.

  The designated network entity may be a BSA server that stores BSA data for multiple networks including visited networks. The H-PDE may store a table of SIDs for which BSA data is available from the BSA server. The H-PDE may determine that the BSA data for the mobile station is not locally available based on this SIDs table. The H-PDE may then send the second request for BSA data for the mobile station to the BSA server.

  The designated network entity may be a V-PDE for the visited network. The H-PDE may store a table of SIDs for which BSA data is not available and PDEs for which location information can be achieved. Based on this table, the H-PDE may determine that BSA data for the mobile station is not locally available, and based on this table, the H-PDE determines the V-PDE to send a second request. You may decide. The H-PDE may send a second request to the V-PDE, which is BSA data, assistance data, and / or location for the mobile station, eg, as shown in FIGS. An estimate may be returned. Further, the H-PDE may transfer the first request to the V-PDE as the second request, and may transfer the position information received from the V-PDE to the mobile station, for example, as shown in FIG. .

  The H-PDE may provide information about the serving sector of the mobile station in the second request. The H-PDE then (i) BSA data for the serving sector only, (ii) BSA data for the serving sector and at least one neighboring sector, (iii) SPS assistance data for the mobile station, and / or (Iv) Some other location information from the designated network entity may be received. The H-PDE may also receive at least one measurement value for at least one sector from the mobile station. The H-PDE sends the measurement value (s) in the second request, receives the position estimate for the mobile station from the designated network entity, and provides the position estimate to the mobile station Also good. Instead, the H-PDE receives BSA data for the mobile station from the designated network entity and obtains a location estimate for the mobile station based on the measured value (s) and the received BSA data. And may provide the position estimate to the mobile station.

  FIG. 10 shows a design of a process 1000 performed by the BSA server to support mobile station positioning. The BSA server may receive BSA data from multiple networks, eg, periodically or whenever BSA data is updated by these networks (block 1012). The BSA server may also receive configuration information indicating which networks are permitted to obtain BSA data from each of the plurality of networks (block 1014). The BSA server may receive requests for BSA data from PDEs in multiple networks (block 1014). Each PDE may serve one network and may send requests for BSA data of other networks not served by that PDE. The BSA server may determine whether each PDE request is allowed based on the configuration information (block 1016). The BSA server may return BSA data to the PDEs in response to the authorized request (block 1018).

  For a given PDE request, the BSA server may receive information (eg, SID, NID, and BASE_ID) about the serving sector of the mobile station from the PDE. Thereafter, the BSA server may determine BSA data applicable to the mobile station based on information about the serving sector, or may return BSA data to the PDE. The returned BSA data may be for the serving sector only, or for the serving sector and neighboring sectors. The BSA server may use unmodified BSA data (data as received from the network) or degraded BSA data (eg, more uncertain sector center) based on configuration information applicable to the PDE. Alternatively, a base station position) may be provided to the PDE.

  FIG. 11 shows a design of a process 1100 performed by V-PDE to support mobile station positioning. The V-PDE may be any network entity that supports positioning in the visited network. The V-PDE may receive a request for location information for a mobile station in communication with the visited network (block 1112). In response to determining that BSA data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network, a request may be sent by the H-PDE. The V-PDE may send location information about the mobile station to the H-PDE (block 1114). The location information may comprise BSA data, SPS assistance data, and / or location estimates for mobile stations. For transaction-based services, the V-PDE may process each request from the H-PDE as a separate transaction. For IS-801 transfer, the request for location information may be sent by the mobile station to the H-PDE and transferred by the H-PDE to the V-PDE. The location information may be sent to the H-PDE and transferred to the mobile station.

  FIG. 12 shows a design of a process 1200 performed by the mobile station. The mobile station may roam and may communicate with the visited network via a wireless connection (block 1212). The mobile station may send a request for positioning assistance to the H-PDE in the home network (block 1214). The mobile station was assigned the positioning assistance provided by the H-PDE based on the location information obtained by the H-PDE when the BSA data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network It may be received from a network entity (block 1216). The mobile station may receive system parameter information from a serving cell in the visited network and may include this information in a request sent to the H-PDE. The H-PDE may use system parameter information to determine that BSA data for the mobile station is not locally available. The H-PDE may provide BSA data, SPS assistance data, and / or position estimates to the mobile station as described above.

  FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of the mobile station 110, the RAN 120, the V-PDE 140, the H-PDE 160, and the BSA server 170. For simplicity, FIG. 13 shows (i) one controller / processor 1310, one memory 1312, and one transmitter / receiver (TMTR / RCVR) 1314 for the mobile station 110. , (Ii) for RAN 120, one controller / processor 1320, one memory 1322, one transmitter / receiver 1324, and one communication (Comm) unit 1326, and (iii) for V-PDE 140, For one controller / processor 1340, one memory 1342, and one communication unit 1344 and (iv) H-PDE 160, one controller / processor 1350, one memory 1352, and one communication unit 1354, (v About BSA server 170 One controller / processor 1360, one memory 1362, and one communication unit 1364 are shown. In general, each entity may include any number of controllers, processors, memories, transceivers, communication units, and the like.

  On the downlink, a base station in the RAN 120 transmits traffic data, messages / signaling, and pilot to mobile stations in its service area. These various types of data are processed by processor 1320 and coordinated by transmitter 1324 to generate a downlink signal, which is transmitted via an antenna. At mobile station 110, the downlink signal from the base station is received via an antenna, coordinated by receiver 1314, and processed by processor 1310 to provide positioning, location, and other service information. To get various kinds of information. For example, the processor 1310 may decode the message used for the message flow described above. Further, the processor 1310 may perform the process 1200 in FIG. 12 for positioning. Memories 1312 and 1322 store program codes and data for mobile station 110 and RAN 120, respectively. On the uplink, the mobile station 110 may transmit traffic data, messages / signaling, and pilots to base stations in the RAN 120. These various types of data are processed by processor 1310 and coordinated by transmitter 1314 to generate an uplink signal that is transmitted via a mobile station antenna. In RAN 120, uplink signals from mobile station 110 and other mobile stations are received and coordinated by receiver 1324 and further processed by processor 1320 to provide various types of information such as data, messages / signaling, etc. get. The RAN 120 may communicate with other network entities via the communication unit 1326.

  Within V-PDE 140, processor 1340 performs location and / or positioning processing for V-PDE, and memory 1342 stores program code and data for V-PDE. The communication unit 1344 allows the V-PDE to communicate with other entities. The processor 1340 may perform processing for the V-PDE 140 in the message flow described above, and may also perform the processing 1100 in FIG. Within H-PDE 160, processor 1350 performs location and / or positioning processing for H-PDE, memory 1352 stores program code and data for H-PDE, and communication unit 1354 includes H-PDE. Allow PDE to communicate with other entities. The processor 1350 may perform processing for the H-PDE 160 in the message flow described above, and may also perform the processing 900 in FIG. Within the BSA server 170, the processor 1360 performs processing for the BSA server, the memory 1362 stores program codes and data for the BSA server, and the communication unit 1364 allows the BSA server to communicate with other entities. To be able to. The processor 1360 may perform processing for the BSA server 170 in the message flow described above, and may also perform the processing 1000 in FIG.

  The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In a hardware implementation, the processing unit used to perform the approach at each entity (eg, mobile station 110, V-PDE 140, H-PDE 160, BSA server 170, etc.) is one or more application specific integrations. Application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fields Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, computers, or their It may be implemented in a suit look.

  For firmware and / or software implementations, the techniques may be implemented with modules (eg, procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Firmware and / or software instructions / code may be stored in a memory (eg, memory 1312, 1342, 1352, or 1362 in FIG. 13) and executed by a processor (eg, processor 1310, 1340, 1350, or 1360). May be. The memory may be implemented inside the processor or outside the processor. Firmware and / or software instructions / code may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) ), Programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memory, floppy disk, compact disk (CD) ), May be stored on a computer / processor readable medium such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic or optical data storage. The instructions / code may be executable by one or more processors and may cause the processor (s) to perform certain aspects of the functionality described herein.

  The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. In addition, the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. is there.

Claims (55)

Base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network so as to receive a first request for positioning assistance from a mobile station communicating with the visited network BSA data, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data, and position estimates for the mobile station to send a second request for position information about the mobile station to a designated network entity to determine , Receiving position information about the mobile station comprising at least one of the mobile station from the designated network entity and providing positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received position information At least one processor configured to:
A memory coupled to the at least one processor;
A device comprising:   The at least one processor is configured to receive system parameter information in the first request from the mobile station, and based on the system parameter information, BSA data applicable to the mobile station is locally available The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine that it is not.   The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the system parameter information comprises a system identification (SID) of the visited network and a network identification (NID).   The at least one processor is configured to receive the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and to send the second request for BSA data for the mobile station. The BSA server of claim 1, configured to send to a BSA server operating as the designated network entity, the BSA server storing BSA data for a plurality of networks including the visited network. apparatus.   The memory is configured to store a table of SIDs for which BSA data is available from the BSA server, and the at least one processor is applicable to the mobile station based on the table of SIDs. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine that no BSA data is locally available.   5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide BSA data for the home network to the BSA server for storage and distribution by the BSA server.   The at least one processor is adapted to receive the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network and to visit a visited PDE (V The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to send the second request to a PDE).   The memory is configured to store a table of SIDs for which BSA data is not available and PDEs from which location information can be obtained, and the at least one processor is configured to move the mobile device based on the table of SIDs. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, configured to determine that BSA data applicable to a station is not locally available and to cause the V-PDE to determine to send the second request. The device described.   The at least one processor is designated with the first request as the second request to receive the first request at a home location entity (H-PDE) in the home network. The method is configured to forward to a visited PDE functioning as a network entity (V-PDE) and to forward the location information received from the V-PDE to the mobile station. The apparatus according to 1.   The at least one processor is adapted to provide information about the serving sector of the mobile station in the second request, and BSA data for the serving sector only from the designated network entity. The apparatus of claim 1, configured to receive.   The at least one processor is adapted to provide information about the serving sector of the mobile station in the second request and to specify BSA data for the serving sector and at least one neighboring sector The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive from a configured network entity.   The at least one processor determines SPS assistance data for the mobile station based on the received BSA data so as to receive BSA data applicable to the mobile station from the designated network entity. And the apparatus of claim 1, configured to provide the SPS assistance data to the mobile station.   The at least one processor is configured to receive SPS assistance data for the mobile station from the designated network entity and to provide the SPS assistance data to the mobile station. Item 2. The apparatus according to Item 1.   The at least one processor sends the at least one measurement in the second request to the designated network entity to receive at least one measurement for the at least one sector from the mobile station. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a position estimate for the mobile station from the designated network entity and providing the position estimate to the mobile station. apparatus.   The at least one processor is adapted to receive at least one measurement for at least one sector from the mobile station and to receive BSA data for the mobile station from the designated network entity. Determining a position estimate for the mobile station based on the at least one measurement from a station and the BSA data from the designated network entity, and moving the position estimate to the mobile The apparatus of claim 1, configured to provide to a station. Receiving a first request for positioning assistance from a mobile station in communication with the visited network;
Determining that base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network;
Sending a second request for location information about the mobile station to a designated network entity;
Receiving location information for the mobile station from the designated network entity, wherein the received location information includes BSA data, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data, and location for the mobile station; Comprising at least one of an estimate;
Providing positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received location information;
A method comprising:   Receiving the first request comprises receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and sending the second request. Comprises sending the second request for BSA data for the mobile station to a BSA server operating as the designated network entity, the BSA server for a plurality of networks including the visited network The method of claim 16, wherein the BSA data is stored.   Receiving the first request comprises receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and sending the second request. 17. The method of claim 16, comprising sending the second request to a visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as the designated network entity.   Receiving the first request comprises receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and sending the second request; Forwarding the first request as the second request to a visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as the designated network entity, and providing the positioning assistance to the mobile station 17. The method of claim 16, comprising forwarding the location information received from the V-PDE to the mobile station.   Receiving the location information about the mobile station comprises receiving BSA data applicable to the mobile station from the designated network entity and providing positioning assistance to the mobile station; 17. The method of claim 16, comprising determining SPS assistance data for the mobile station based on the received BSA data and providing the SPS assistance data to the mobile station. Method.   Receiving the first request comprises receiving from the mobile station at least one measurement for at least one sector, and receiving the location information about the mobile station, Receiving BSA data for the mobile station from the designated network entity, and providing the positioning assistance to the mobile station, the at least one measurement from the mobile station, and The method of claim 16, comprising determining a location estimate for the mobile station based on the BSA data from a designated network entity and providing the location estimate to the mobile station. The method described. Means for receiving a first request for positioning assistance from a mobile station in communication with the visited network;
Means for determining that base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in a home network;
Means for sending a second request for location information about the mobile station to a designated network entity;
Means for receiving location information about the mobile station from the designated network entity, wherein the received location information includes BSA data about the mobile station, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data; And at least one of a position estimate;
Means for providing positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received location information;
A device comprising:   The means for receiving the first request comprises means for receiving the first request at a home location entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and the second Said means for sending a request comprises: means for sending said second request for BSA data for said mobile station to a BSA server operating as said designated network entity, said BSA server comprising: 23. The apparatus of claim 22, storing BSA data for a plurality of networks including visited networks.   The means for receiving the first request comprises means for receiving the first request at a home location entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and the second 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for sending a request comprises a means for sending the second request to a visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as the designated network entity.   The means for receiving the first request comprises means for receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network, and the second request Said means for sending comprises a means for forwarding said first request as said second request to said visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as said designated network entity; 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for providing positioning assistance to the mobile station comprises means for transferring the location information received from the V-PDE to the mobile station.   The means for receiving location information about the mobile station comprises means for receiving BSA data applicable to the mobile station from the designated network entity, and providing positioning assistance The means for providing to a mobile station comprises means for determining SPS assistance data for the mobile station based on the received BSA data, and for providing the SPS assistance data to the mobile station. 23. The apparatus of claim 22, comprising means.   The means for receiving the first request comprises means for receiving from the mobile station at least one measurement for at least one sector and receiving location information about the mobile station The means for receiving comprises means for receiving BSA data for the mobile station from the designated network entity, and the means for providing positioning assistance to the mobile station comprises: Means for determining a position estimate for the mobile station based on the at least one measurement from the mobile station and the BSA data from the designated network entity; and 23. The apparatus of claim 22, comprising means for providing to the mobile station. A processor readable medium containing stored program code,
Program code for receiving a first request for positioning assistance from a mobile station in communication with the visited network;
Program code for determining that base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network;
Program code for sending a second request for location information about the mobile station to a designated network entity;
Program code for receiving location information about the mobile station from the designated network entity, and the received location information includes BSA data and satellite positioning system (SPS) support data about the mobile station. , And at least one of position estimates;
Program code for providing positioning assistance to the mobile station based on the received location information;
A processor readable medium comprising: Program code for receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network;
Program code for sending the second request for BSA data for the mobile station to a BSA server operating as the designated network entity;
Further comprising
The BNA server stores BSA data for a plurality of networks including the visited network;
30. The processor readable medium of claim 28. Program code for receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network;
Program code for sending the second request to a visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as the designated network entity;
30. The processor readable medium of claim 28, further comprising: Program code for receiving the first request at a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network;
Program code for transferring the first request as the second request to a visited PDE (V-PDE) operating as the designated network entity;
A program code for transferring the location information received from the V-PDE to the mobile station;
30. The processor readable medium of claim 28, further comprising: Program code for receiving BSA data applicable to the mobile station from the designated network entity;
Program code for determining SPS assistance data for the mobile station based on the received BSA data;
Program code for providing the SPS support data to the mobile station;
30. The processor readable medium of claim 28, further comprising: Program code for receiving from the mobile station at least one measurement for at least one sector;
Program code for receiving BSA data for the mobile station from the designated network entity;
Program code for determining a position estimate for the mobile station based on the at least one measurement from the mobile station and the BSA data from the designated network entity;
Program code for providing the position estimate to the mobile station;
30. The processor readable medium of claim 28, further comprising: Whether base station almanac (BSA) data is received from multiple networks, and whether each of the requests is allowed to receive requests for BSA data from positioning entities (PDEs) in the multiple networks. At least one processor configured to determine and return BSA data to the PDEs for authorized requests;
A memory coupled to the at least one processor;
A device comprising:   35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein each PDE serves one of the plurality of networks and sends a request for BSA data for other networks not served by the PDE.   The at least one processor is adapted to determine BSA data applicable to the mobile station based on the information about the serving sector such that information about the serving sector of the mobile station is received from a PDE. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is configured to return the BSA data to the PDE.   40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide BSA data for the serving sector only to the PDE.   37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide BSA data for the serving sector and at least one neighboring sector to the PDE.   37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the information about the serving sector comprises a system identification (SID), a network identification (NID), and a base station identification (BASE_ID).   The at least one processor is configured to receive configuration information indicating which networks are allowed to obtain BSA data from each of the plurality of networks, and based on the configuration information, the request 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine whether each of the is allowed.   The at least one processor is configured to receive a request for BSA data from the PDE and provide unmodified BSA data or degraded BSA data to the PDE based on configuration information applicable to the PDE. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is configured as described above. Receiving base station almanac (BSA) data from multiple networks;
Receiving requests for BSA data from positioning entities (PDEs) in the plurality of networks;
Determining whether each of the requests is allowed;
Returning BSA data to the PDEs for authenticated requests;
A method comprising: Receiving configuration information indicating which networks are allowed to obtain BSA data from each of the plurality of networks;
Further comprising
Each of the requests is permitted based on the configuration information.
43. The method of claim 42. Returning BSA data to the PDEs
Receiving information about the serving sector of the mobile station from the PDE for authorized requests;
Determining BSA data applicable to the mobile station based on the information about the serving sector;
Returning the BSA data to the PDE;
43. The method of claim 42, comprising:   Returning the BSA data to the PDEs comprises providing unaltered BSA data or degraded BSA data to the PDE for authenticated requests based on configuration information applicable to the PDE; 43. The method of claim 42. Note that the request uses base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station locally in the home network to receive a request for location information about the mobile station communicating with the visited network. In response to determining that it is not possible, sent by a home positioning entity (H-PDE); and of the BSA data, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data, and position estimates for the mobile station At least one processor configured to send location information about the mobile station to the H-PDE comprising at least one;
A memory coupled to the at least one processor;
A device comprising:   47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the at least one processor is configured to process each request from the H-PDE as a separate transaction.   The request for location information is sent by the mobile station to the H-PDE and forwarded by the H-PDE, and the location information is sent to the H-PDE and forwarded to the mobile station. 48. The apparatus of claim 46. Receiving a request for location information about a mobile station in communication with a visited network, wherein the request is available for base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station locally in the home network Sent by the home location determination entity (H-PDE) in response to determining otherwise;
Sending position information about the mobile station to the H-PDE, wherein the position information is at least one of BSA data, satellite positioning system (SPS) assistance data, and position estimate for the mobile station. With one;
A method comprising: Processing each request from the H-PDE as a separate transaction;
50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:   The request for location information is sent by the mobile station to the H-PDE and forwarded by the H-PDE, and the location information is sent to the H-PDE and forwarded to the mobile station. 50. The method of claim 49. A base station almanac (applicable to the mobile station) to send a request for positioning assistance to a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network to communicate with the visited network via a wireless connection BSA) to receive positioning assistance provided by the H-PDE based on location information obtained by the H-PDE from a designated network entity when data is not locally available in the home network. At least one configured processor;
A memory coupled to the at least one processor;
A device comprising:   The at least one processor is adapted to receive system parameter information from a serving cell in the visited network and to provide the system parameter information in the request sent to the H-PDE. 53. The apparatus of claim 52, configured and wherein the system parameter information is used by the H-PDE to determine that BSA data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available. Communicating with the visited network over a wireless connection;
Sending a request for positioning assistance to a home positioning entity (H-PDE) in the home network;
Based on location information obtained by the H-PDE from a designated network entity when base station almanac (BSA) data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available in the home network, the H-PDE Receiving the positioning assistance provided by
A method comprising: Receiving system parameter information from a serving cell in the visited network;
Providing the system parameter information in the request sent to the H-PDE;
Further comprising
The system parameter information is used by the H-PDE to determine that BSA data applicable to the mobile station is not locally available.
55. The method of claim 54.

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